Disclaimer: Not a thing belongs to me.

I apologize greatly for the cliffhanger at the end of the last one! I kind of love/hate doing it at the same time. I feel as though they are one of a writer's many tools to creating a good story. And since this isn't a hard copy book, you guys can't flip ahead or continue on immediately. In some ways, that's a thing Fanfiction has over actual hard copy books: the ability to make people squirm! But to make you feel better, here's the next one :) I sincerely hope you enjoy and as always: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

PS -

This is another bit of emotional turmoil. Sorry for that in advance.

Derek's eyes went wide and his stomach dropped as he heard the sound of the gunshot and saw Penelope jump in front of the bullet meant for him. He dove forward and caught his wife before she hit the ground and put pressure on her bullet wound that was centered on her shoulder right above her heart.

The sound of more gunfire could be heard and Kyle fell to the ground, a smile on his face as his lifeless body with a bullet hole in his forehead hit the concrete.

With her blood seeping through his fingers, Derek began to shout. "I need an EMT in here immediately!" he yelled at no one in particular. He looked back down at Penelope who was in his arms and he couldn't stop his tears from falling. "No, no! Penelope, you need to stay with me!" he cried. "Baby Girl, stay awake!"

She coughed several times, blood splattering the corners of her mouth. "I'm s - sorry, Derek," she said hoarsely.

"No! You don't have to be sorry about anything," he said fiercely, keeping pressure on the bleeding hole in her shoulder. "You're going to be okay, Baby Girl. Don't you dare close your eyes."

A ghostly smile covered her face. "I missed you calling me Baby Girl," she said, her eyes fluttering some. Tears filled her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Derek. I should never have told you to leave. I want you to come home. I love you."

He increased the pressure on her bullet wound. Looking up, he shouted with a crazed look on his face, "Where the hell are the medics?"

"They're on their way," Hotch said, handcuffing Keith Roberts.

Derek looked back down at Penelope again and murmured, "The medics are coming. You're going to be okay, Penelope. I love you too. We're going to get you better and I'm going to take care of you. I will never leave you again, no matter how angry we get with one."

"I love you," she repeated, more blood trickling from her mouth. Her eyes started closing.

Derek couldn't stop himself from crying. The tears were coming in thick, heaving waves now. "Please," he whispered to Penelope's now still form.

"Morgan, the paramedics are here," JJ said from behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "They need you out of the way."

Derek didn't look up; he merely let the EMTs take over putting pressure on his wife's wounds. "She's bleeding into her lungs," one of them said, putting the stethoscope to her chest. "We need to get her moving now!"

All he could do was watch in horror as they began the process of putting Penelope on a stretcher. Rossi came up behind him and put a hand on his arm. "Derek, Soraya is asking for you. Why don't you ride with the girls on the way to the hospital? They'll be able to update you on more when you get there and they get her into surgery."

Derek looked at Rossi with a look in his eyes that none of his teammates had ever seen. Pure grief. He wouldn't have looked any worse if Penelope was dead. "Guys, I can't lose her. I won't make it if I do."

"You're not going to lose her," Blake said firmly, tears burning at the back of her eyes. "No one is dying to day. Except Kyle. And he's already dead. She won't die." She almost didn't know if she was saying it for only Morgan, or if she was saying it for herself and the rest of the team as well. "Now you need to go be with your daughters. They need you just as much as Penelope, but right now you can do something to help them."

He shook his head. "What am I supposed to tell them?" he asked. His eyes were completely bloodshot and his face had aged ten years. "How can I tell them that their mother is -" He choked on the words. He couldn't even say it.

"You just be there for them," JJ said gently, taking him by the hand and leading him out of the garage towards the SUVs. Tala was weeping into her knees, Lindy was holding her, and Soraya was with Reid, looking lost and asking questions frantically.

Tala looked up and saw Derek, her eyes that had been caked with makeup were now giant piles of runny eyeliner and mascara and silver eyeshadow. She jumped to her feet and ran into Derek's arms. "I saw them taking Mom out!" she wailed. "Is she going to be okay?"

Derek didn't answer her. He was frozen. All he could do was wrap her, Lindy, and Soraya in his embrace and hold them. His own tears started to fall and he began to choke on sobs. His last words with Penelope, his fear of almost losing his daughters; it was all too much for one man to handle. In all his life he'd never felt pain this intense, this...painful. Even his past demons couldn't compare to it.

"Is Mama going to be alright?" Soraya whimpered.

Derek let go of them all and knelt down in front of his youngest daughter. He still didn't know what to say to his family. The only advice JJ had given him was Be there for them. So he decided to take his own route on the advice and murmured, "The doctors are going to fix her up and she'll be okay. We need to get you to the hospital right now and have you all looked at though." He looked at all three of them and nodded unsteadily. "Okay?"

They all nodded mutely. "Okay," Tala whispered.

XXXXX

"Grandma's going to take you three home since the doctors cleared you," Derek told his daughters as the clock in the hospital moved to ten pm. "She's coming in the doors now."

Fran Morgan came rushing towards her son and granddaughters. Her face was pale. Lindy and Soraya threw themselves into her arms. "Oh, you poor babies," she murmured. "We need to get you home."

Tala remained in front of Derek. She stood her ground firmly and said, "I don't want to go home. I'm staying with you until we know something about Mom."

Derek shook his head. "Tala, I need you to help with your sisters. And baby, you'r exhausted. You need to be at home, with a warm shower and your own bed."

"No!" she hissed. "I need to stay with you and see how Mom is!" Her eyes filled with tears. "Please, Dad!"

Taking both her hands, he said, "Tala, please. I need you at home. Do this for your sisters." Seeing his daughter's unfazed glare, he addd softly, "I promise I will call you as soon as we hear anything from the surgeon."

The real reason he couldn't have Tala was there was because he didn't know how the outcome of the surgery would play out. He couldn't have her there not knowing. If it turned out poorly, he needed to be on his own to break down. His daughters needed to see him strong in a time like this and if anything happened to Penelope, there was no telling how many miles he would crumble down.

She looked hesitant at first, but then nodded. "Okay," she said hesitantly. "But you have to call me the moment you hear anything."

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "I'll call you as soon as I know something."

"Girls, start heading for the elevator, please," Fran said, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I'll be right there in a moment." As Tala started to lead her younger sisters towards the elevators, Fran turned to face her son and pulled him into the tightest hug he had ever received. "Are you going to be okay by yourself here?" she asked him. "Do they know anything for certain yet."

He shook his head numbly. "I'll be fine, Mom," he said shakily, making it hard for her to take his words seriously. "She's been in surgery for hours now. All the doctors have come out and told me was there were some complications they were working through and they needed time."

Fran's lower lip quivered. "She has to be okay," she murmured. It was no secret that Fran loved Penelope. She was the first to ever find out Penelope and Derek were together as a couple and she had been hooked on her from the beginning. When Derek told her that he and Penelope were separated, she spent at least the first month in a rut of denial that rivaled Soraya's. She sighed and shook her head. "I'll take the girls home and make sure they're well rested. After what they've been through..." Her voice trailed off. She couldn't bear to even think about what those cruel men had done to her granddaughters.

Derek shot her a look. "Please keep an eye on Tala," he said. "At least two. I'm worried she might sneak out and come back here." The memory of his fight with his eldest daughter from a mere short time ago blinked into his head and he added, "And make sure the liquor cabinet is locked up."

"Why on earth would you be worried about that right now?" his mother demanded incredulously and confused.

He sighed. "Because I don't want Tala getting into it," he ground out. "She's developed a nasty habit of drinking when she's upset about something. It's something we're going to have to bring up in the therapy sessions her doctor just recommended to help deal with the trauma of the Roberts brothers."

Fran didn't say anything after that. Finally, she murmured, "Call us soon with any updates they may bring you."

"I will," he said hoarsely, watching his mother disappear around the hospital corner.

XXXXX

Less than half an hour after his mother and daughters left him alone in the waiting room, the doctors emerged from behind the OR doors. Derek shot to his feet and was in front of them before they had a chance to make it half way across the waiting room to him. With tense shoulders and a terror streaked face, he said, "Doctor, please tell me something went right."

The surgeon gave him a relieved, yet exhausted smile. "Though the surgery took a very long time, we were able to bring your wife back and remove the bullet from her wounds successfully."

Derek stared at the doctor a long moment before nodding and letting out a deep breath, one that he had been holding in for an extended period of time. "What happened that made it take so long?"

"Well," the doctor said, "the bullet hit her very close to her heart, but what was extremely odd was it ricocheted into her lung somehow, lodging itself there, making her cough up blood and lose oxygen very quickly. It took some very delicate hands, but we were able to remove the bullet and shrapnel from her body and patch her up finally." She smiled kindly. "Your wife will make a full recovery."

Never in his life had Derek felt more relieved than he did right then.

Penelope was going to be okay.

She was going to live.

Hope this one settled your nerves slightly and wasn't too taxing on your souls :) There's more coming that I sincerely hope you will like! As always...PLEASE REVIEW!